The invention pertains to methods of electronic tracking of units originating from a common source, such as, for example, methods for electronic identification of meat units originating from a common animal carcass. The invention further pertains to particular transponder assemblies, such as transponders attached to meat spikes.
Radio frequency identification devices (RFID""s) are commonly utilized for electronically identifying objects. In an exemplary application, a transponder is attached to an object which is to be identified. The transponder can be incorporated into a passive, read-only RFID system which comprises an interrogator used in conjunction with the transponder. The interrogator provides a carrier signal which powers (stimulates) the transponder and causes a signal to be transmitted from the transponder. The signal comprises data which identifies the object associated with the transponder. The signal is received by the interrogator, which is in data communication with a processing system configured to decode and interpret the data.
The interrogator commonly uses a coil antenna to stimulate the transponder. The transponder will frequently comprise a parallel resonant LC circuit, with such circuit being resonant at a carrier frequency of the interrogator.
An exemplary application of a passive, read-only RFID system is for identification of individual animals in a meat-processing plant. A reason for identifying individual animals in a meat-processing plant is to improve meat quality and/or farming processes. For instance, in modern farming practices it is desirable to track an animal throughout its entire lifetime up to, and including, slaughter to aid in understanding the factors that influence meat quality. To accomplish such tracking, an RFID transponder tag can be placed in an animal""s ear at time of birth, and utilized to document events occurring within the animal""s life. For instance, the RFID transponder can be utilized with interrogators to catalog the feed ingested by the animal, vaccinations provided to the animal, and any growth hormones administered to the animal. The transponder can further be utilized in combination with an interrogator at time of slaughter to catalogue the meat quality of the animal. Transponders can be utilized to track many (or even all) of the individual animals of a population, and information accumulated by the transponders can be studied to relate the effect, if any, of particular farming practices on meat quality.
In an exemplary use of a RFID in a meat-processing plant, transponders are provided on individual animal bodies within the plant to enable tracking of the bodies during processing to enable, for example, meat products from a particular body to be pulled in the event the body is found to be contaminated or diseased.
An exemplary system for utilizing passive, read-only RFID for identification and tracking of individual animals in a meat-processing plant is described with reference to FIG. 1, which illustrates a carcass-transporting device (conveyer) 20, and an interrogator 32 (shown as a computer).
Carcass-transporting device 20 includes a trolley 22 having a hook 24 connected thereto. A track 28 is provided along which trolley 22 can be moved from processing station to processing station within the meat-processing plant. An animal body (carcass) 26 is shown connected with hook 24.
An RFID device is shown generally at 30 as being mounted directly on trolley 22. Device 30 includes a transponder which enables wireless communication to be conducted between device 30 and interrogator 32. Specifically, interrogator 32 can include suitable transmit and receive circuitry to both transmit signals to device 30, and receive signals transmitted from device 30. The wireless communication between interrogator 32 and device 30 can take place through, for example, RF transmissions. A suitable device for conducting RF communication between an interrogator and a transponder is disclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/705,043, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. Of course, other transponders and interrogators can be used.
The stage of meat processing shown in FIG. 1 can be a relatively early step in a meat processing sequence. Specifically, carcass 26 corresponds to an animal body which has been skinned and gutted, and in the case of large animal (such as a cow) may correspond to a half of the resulting carcass (with such carcass having been split longitudinally to form the half). For purposes of the remaining discussion, it will be assumed that carcass 26 corresponds to half of a beef body. Of course, in such instances there is another half of the beef body at some other location of the slaughterhouse. Such other half of the beef body can have a separate transponder (analogous to transponder unit 30) associated therewith, and the coded signals from the transponders associated with each half of the beef body can be correlated together in a database such that it is recognized that both halves came from the same beef body. Accordingly, if a defect (or disease) is evidenced by either half of the animal body from which carcass 26 originated, the other half of such animal body can be readily tracked within the slaughterhouse and identified.
An identifier of the live animal from which carcass 26 was obtained can also be provided on the database, and the coded signals of the transponders can be electrically associated with such identifier to link the coded signals of the transponders with the identifier in a program such as, for example, a spreadsheet program. Accordingly, information learned about conformation or meat quality during processing of the animal body can be related with other information obtained during the rearing of the live animal and displayed utilizing the program.
A typical slaughterhouse scenario for carcass 26 is as follows. The carcass is passed across a scale to determine a xe2x80x9chot weightxe2x80x9d of the carcass. For cattle, such hot weight is determined after the full carcass has been halved into slabs. After the hot weight is determined, the carcass is placed in a first chiller, where it stays for 24 hours. The carcass is then transferred to a second chiller, where it stays for another 24 hours. The meat is passed through two chillers sequentially because such is a convenient way of processing and tracking large quantities of meat. In slaughterhouses wherein a small quantity of meat is processed, the meat may stay in a single chiller for the entire cooling period.
After the carcass has been chilled for a total of 48 hours (24 hours in the first chiller followed by 24 hours in the second chiller), the carcass is weighed to determine a so-called xe2x80x9ccold weightxe2x80x9d of the carcass and the meat of the carcass is graded by a meat inspector. A comparison of the cold weight to the hot weight can indicate an amount of meat shrinkage, and can be useful in determining a quality of the meat. After a plurality of carcasses are graded, they are divided by grade and sent to fabrication. At fabrication, the carcasses are subdivided into smaller units and packaged for distribution.
FIG. 2 illustrates an initial step of a fabrication process. Specifically, carcass 26 (which is, for purposes of the following discussion, a slab corresponding to half of an animal body) is split to form two units corresponding to a front quarter 36 (also referred to as a shank) and a hind quarter 38. It is noted in referring to FIG. 2 that a meat spike 40 has been inserted into slab 26 and has a tag 42 extending there from. Such spike can be inserted by inspectors and other persons associated with meat processing to attach information such as, for example, identification or USDA information to slab 26.
After slab 26 is split into units 36 and 38, a separate spike can be inserted into unit 36 to provide additional identifying information associated with unit 36.
Units 36 and 38 are conveyed to areas of the slaughterhouse wherein such units are subdivided into portions suitable for distribution, and then packaged. A common package will be a box containing particular cuts of meat, such as, for example, steaks or roasts. A single box will generally contain cuts of meat from several animal carcasses.
A difficulty of present meat processing methodologies is in tracking the meat through a slaughterhouse. Specifically, it can be desirable to track meat entirely from the time an animal enters a slaughterhouse until the animal is packaged, and to thereby have a record of exactly which packages the meat from the animal was distributed in. Then, if a problem is discovered with any of the meat from the animal, it can be a simple matter to recall all of the packages that contain other meat from the animal. For instance, if bacterial contamination of a meat product is discovered, it is desirable recall all meat originating from the same carcass as the contaminated meat product.
As another example of the desirability of tracking an animal carcass from the time it enters a slaughterhouse until the time it is packaged for distribution is a scenario wherein a meat product is found to have exceptional qualities. In such circumstances, it can be desirable to track the meat product back to the originating animal and the farming practices which developed such particular high quality product.
In one aspect, the invention encompasses a method for electronic tracking of units originating from a common source. The common source comprises a plurality of units physically joined with one another. A first transponder is physically associated with the common source, and the source is split to separate it into three or more of the units. A second transponder is physically associated with one of the three or more units, and the second transponder sends a code. The code of the second transponder is electrically associated with an identifier of the common source.
In another aspect, the invention encompasses a method for electronic identification of meat units originating from a common animal carcass. An animal carcass is provided on a conveyor and conveyed through a meat processing plant. The animal carcass initially has a first transponder physically associated therewith, and the first transponder sends a code which is electrically associated with an identifier of the animal carcass. The animal carcass is split into at least two first units, and one or more of the first units is physically separated from the first transponder after such splitting. One or more second transponders are physically associated with at least one of the first units that were physically separated from the first transponder by the first splitting. The second transponders send codes. The codes of the second transponders are electrically associated with the identifier of the animal carcass.
In yet another aspect, the invention encompasses an assembly comprising a transponder attached to a meat spike.